January 07, 2012

Mozambican Prime Minister Aires Ali has challenged the
country's young people, as well as its businesses, to increase food
production, by banking on the introduction of new agricultural
technologies to increase yields.

This would be possible, he said, through the use of knowledge and
techniques learnt through the cooperation between Mozambique and China.

According to a report in the Beira daily paper "Diario de
Mocambique", Ali was speaking during a working visit to the
Lower Limpopo irrigation scheme in the southern province of Gaza. Here,
in the Ponela block, a rice production project is underway as part of
the twinning between Gaza and the Chinese province of Hubei.

A memorandum signed between the two provinces in mid-2007 stipulates
that in an initial phase the Chinese investors should ensure rice
production in an area of 300 hectares.

Tests began two years ago, and since then rice production at Ponela
has been raised to ten tonnes per hectare. Previously, under the
traditional Mozambican system, yields were between two and three tonnes
per hectare. The Chinese production techniques have been transferred to
about 20 Mozambican farmers to date.

"What we want is that Mozambicans, particularly young people and the
business sector, should embrace this project enthusiastically, obtaining
the technologies and the machinery to increase production levels", said
Ali.
Gaza has educational institutions that specialize in agriculture, and
Ali suggested that students from these colleges should go the Lower
Limpopo irrigation scheme for apprenticeships where they would
assimilate Chinese rice production techniques.

Agricultural engineers and other specialists should also visit
Ponela, he said, so that they could understand the Chinese technologies
and spread them to other provinces.

The Ponela block covers about 11,000 hectares or arable land. 7,000
hectares are worked by commercial farmers, and the other 4,000 hectares
are in the hands of around 8,000 peasant producers.